Peccadilloes in Nippon and in Nipponese with a Quixotic Perspective. Coming at you from Yokohama, near Tokyo.

June 18, 2009

Scanner Pen Translates Japanese as you Read

Here a guy-- that talks much like one of my entertaining students :-D-- shows off a pen that you can scan English or Japanese words with and get a quick definition. I believe the 2 in the name of the pen refers to it's two-second scanslation speed. I guess it's been out for a while, but it's new to me.

I have some reservations about this, starting with the price (about $300). I was also worried about being able to read the Japanese font, but it seems you can enlarge it, and it looks better in the Japanese language version of the above video anyways so I am satisfied. Hirigana seems like it works too. Actually these days it's the hirigana words that trip me up the most, so I am really curious as to how well they are covered.

You can download the manual and get other information at this site. I wonder if it could read E ink, or, in a pinch, a computer screen.

The ability to save my books from ugly underlined words (my current method is to underline and look up words after I have finished the current two pages opened before me) and get an instant definition is very appealing.

Any testimonials from people out there using this?--EDIT: Saw a vid for a Quiktionary 3, but it seems to be a non-Japanese learner-centered product